1. Technical Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to transmitting and receiving beam-related information in a wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communication systems are developing to support a higher data transfer rate to satisfy an increasing demand for wireless data traffic. The 4th Generation (4G) system which is commonly used in recent years has been developed with the aim of enhancing spectral efficiency to increase the data transfer rate. However, the enhancement in the spectral efficiency is not expected to satisfy the increasing demand for wireless data traffic.
As a solution for providing a higher data transfer rate, use of a broader frequency band may be considered. The present mobile communication cellular system uses a bandwidth of about 5 GHz. However, since the frequency is a finite resource, it is difficult to guarantee the broader frequency band. Therefore, there is a need for a method for guaranteeing a wideband frequency at a higher frequency rather than a currently used band.
As the frequency for wireless communication increases, a propagation path loss increases. Due to the propagation path loss, a propagation distance is relatively shortened and thus a service coverage is reduced. As one of the important techniques for solving these problems, that is, reducing the propagation path loss and increasing the propagation distance, beamforming is being in the spotlight.
Beamforming for transmission, which is performed for transmission signals, normally uses a plurality of antennas to focus signals transmitted from the antennas in a specific direction. A set of a plurality of antennas may be referred to as an array antenna, and each of the antennas included in the array antenna may be referred to as an antenna element. The beamforming for transmission can increase a propagation distance of signals and also rarely transmits signals in other directions, so that interference on other users can be greatly reduced. A receiving side may perform beamforming for reception with respect to reception signals using a reception array antenna. The beamforming for reception increases sensitivity of reception signals entering in a corresponding direction by focusing reception of waves in a specific direction, and blocks interference signals by excluding signals received in directions other than the corresponding direction.
In addition, as a transmission frequency increases, a wavelength of waves decreases. Therefore, when a half-wave antenna is provided, the array antenna can be configured by more antenna elements in the same area. That is, when a high frequency band is used, a higher antenna gain can be obtained than when beamforming is applied in a low frequency band.